After I destroyed my phone in the washing machine last year, I’ve been using a really old very outdated phone, whose battery is now dying, and it is time to upgrade (contract over too). I’ve been salivating over the new HTC Touch models and I just confirmed with an Alltel representative that Alltel is actually getting the HTC Touch Pro. There is no official date yet but it is coming soon.
ASUS Eee PC 1000H 80G (10-inch Display, 1.6 GHz Intel ATOM Processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Fine Ebony - $449
Zipzoom fly has it even cheaper only $409
Newegg also has it at $449, but Amazon has Free Super Saver Shipping on it
Netbooks - small cheap laptops - are all the craze now thanks to the spectacular success of the EEEPC. Everybody wants one of those cheap ultraportables. So here is a list of current and near future netbooks: - Watch for this post to be updated often with pictures, more details.
Asus EEEPC - EEPC is what started this whole trend and is available in various flavors the latest being the 901 and the 1000 which have an 8.9″ screen and 10″ screen respectively. There are various options including SSD drive/Hard Drive, Windows/Linux etc. The EEEPC 1000H with windows and an 80GB drive costs $549
MSI Wind - This is a 10″ netbook comparable to the EEEPC 1000. It was initially supposed to be $499 but now costs $549, the same as the EEEPC
Lenovo S10 - This one officially launches in October, is available in various colors and also has an express card slot which the other two above don’t have. More details soon when the product actually lauches. I plan to get myself one of these.
Dell E Slim - Dell announced a few months ago that it will lauch a few netbooks in August (nothing do far) including a 12″ in addition to the popular 10″ size
Acer Aspire One - Available in a really nice blue and in white, this has a few models with Windows/Linux, currently only with 8.9″ screens.
HP Mininote - Amongst the first of the major brands to launch a netbook, HP mininote is different from the current breed of netbooks because it doesn’t use Intels new Atom processor, Vista is an option, pricing starts at $499. However I wouldn’t buy one because Vista runs slowly, XP is an option but more expensive than Vista and it is more expensive for similar configurations than other comparable netbooks.
ECS G10IL - This one is designed to look glossy like a mac, pricing starts at $399 (not yet available), but keyboard is tiny.
Raon Digital Everun Note (not to be confused with the non-note Everun) - tiny netbook with a 7″ screen - really nice looking but has AMD Turion processor and only 2.5 hrs of battery life.
SYLVANIA g - 7″ inch screen currently, 8.9 and 10″ expected soon. All priced under $500
Hannspree - From TV maker, expected to start at $299 (!!) with 10″ screen, wifi and bluetooth.
Averatec netbook
Buy.com (scumbags) cancelled my 6 Cell MSI Wind preorder, then raised prices by 50$. So I’m pissed at them and at MSI for lying about the Winds availability and price. Buy.com’s ratings at resellerratings are already so bad that I wonder how they are still in business.
Anyway yesterday I got an auto-notify from Newegg that the EEEPC 1000H was in stock and the same price as the Wind - $549. Plus Newegg is my favorite Electronics e-tailer so I ordered it and it is already shipped!! Oooo!
The disadvantage of the eeePC 1000H is that it is marginally larger and heavier but the advantages are that it has 802.11n, the RAM is upgradable without opening up the whole machine and it has a multitouch trackpad. Otherwise the two are nearly identical. More when I actually get the thing on Monday.
Acer just lowered the bar on pricing on Ultraportables. The Aspire One starts at $379 for a linux version with an 8GB SSD, $399 for a Windows XP verrsion with a 120GB HDD both with a 3 Cell battery. A Linux version with SSD and a six cell battery is $449. A 6 cell battery costs about $119.
Now I’m torn on whether to wait for the 6 cell Wind or just get 3 Cell Acer + a six cell battery if I really need it in the future.
Feature wise, the wind has a larger 10″ screen compared to the Acer’s 8.9″ and the Wind has bluetooth. But considering that I haven’t used bluetooth on my laptop in ages now and I can get a cheap bluetooth USB key, is the 1″ difference in screen size worth the extra money? Also the Acer has 120GB of storage vs the 80GB on the Wind and the really cool blue color.
I think I’ll just pre-order the Aspire One too as soon as the blue is available at some known retailer and keep whichever comes first.
Update: Acer Aspire One in stock at Amazon - White Linux 3 Cell 512MB RAM, 8GB SSD
Update:Aspire One in stock at Newegg - White Linux 3 Cell 512MB RAM, 8GB SSD
After following the MSI Wind for a while and realizing that the 6 Cell is probably delayed at least another month from now, I’m looking at other alternatives. The EEE PC 1000H and 901 are too expensive. The only other worthy contender that will be available soon is the Acer Aspire One. Plus the blue color is really fantastic. CDW is taking orders but a quick phone call revealed that they have no idea about what color it is and expected availability is mid August. And the price is a sweeeet $422!!
I just pre-orded a 6 cell MSI Wind from Buy.com and here is a 10$ off coupon. This is the second time I’ve ordered anything from Buy.com and during checkout I got this page with a lot of fine print offering me $10 off my next order if I sign up for a shady sounding service. The no thanks button was tiny and nearly invisible. Be warned, click no.
It looks like MSI still has a few(<20) black and very few white (<10) in stock today (1:35 PM). Looks like a lot of people are waiting for the six cell. Also inspite of their one Wind per customer policy many people were able to order multiple Winds thanks to an error on the MSI website. Some of those got cancelled and are probably what is available today.
The MSI Wind is now listed at the MSI website. The 3 cell it seems will be shipped on Jun 21. I’ll wait for the 6 cell in July before buying. Here is a link - shop.msicomputer.com. The site is still not taking orders (1:09PM Eastern).
Other retailers who have it listed are:
1. Amazon
2. RK Computers (link from MSI website
3. Low Price Joe
4. Q2 Designs
Nobody still has it in stock and most retailers who mention dates, mention 20th Jun or later. I wonder why MSI pulled this stunt, stating boldly that they will start shipping today. Also the retailers don’t know if they will get the 3 cell or the 6 cell battery versions.
Update (1:52PM Eastern): MSI has taken off the 6 Cell and Linux Winds and the 3 Cell ship date has been pushed back to Jun 27. Maybe the EEEPC 901 and 1000h will show up before the Wind?
Update (3:10PM Eastern): MSI has taken off all the Winds from it’s website now and there is no official release date any more. The msimobile.com main page still links to the press release with today as the release date. I now have my doubts that I’ll find one next month too. Crap!
Update (3:56PM Eastern): 3 Cell Ones are back and in stock (limit one per customer) - currently 56 black and 24 white in stock. Shipping Jun 27. For a product that created so much hype these low numbers are ridiculous!! I’m still waiting for the 6 Cell.
